Alan Parsons releases his new album 'The Secret' today

Alan Parsons does something today (Friday) that he hasn't done in 15 years -- release a new studio album. The Secret is a concept album based on his love, since childhood, of magic.

Alan Parsons talked about the theme of his new album, The Secret, which is out today (Friday): "Most of the songs either contain the word magic or have connotations to magic. It's great when you have a theme in mind when you're writing or getting other people to write to have at least a thread of a concept. It makes it easier to write cause otherwise you just have to pluck ideas out of nowhere and, you know, I've never been famous for love songs."

Among the guest singers on the album are Lou Gramm and Jason Mraz.

Parsons is celebrating today's release on the road. He's on tour in Europe with shows in Italy on Saturday and Switzerland on Sunday.